Pulling Together a Colour Scheme with Teal

The question of which colours go with teal has come up 3 times this week in the contexts of sofas, tiles and wallpaper, which has inspired me to write this blog. 

Teal is the name for a blue-green colour, which sits opposite orange-red on the colour wheel. Red and orange sounds dramatic when thinking about interiors, but red is just the fully saturated version of pink and orange is the fully saturated version of peach or plaster-colour. This means that coral-like colours will create a contrasting palette, whilst blues and greens will create a tonal palette. These are sure-fire wins with teal, but there are other colours that also look great with it without following any particular rule. 

A classic saturated teal colour is ‘Canton’ (94) by Little Greene, whilst their ‘Ambleside’ (304) is a softer, greyer option. Neutral colours that go well with teal have either tonal (blue-green) or contrasting (orange-red) undertones. Little Greene’s ‘Pearl Colour’ (100) has green-grey undertones and goes well with less saturated (greyer) teals but clashes with stronger teals. For those more saturated teals, ‘China Clay’ (1), which has pink undertones, works well. However, if you came here to find out how to pull together a neutral scheme with teal as an accent, I’m the wrong interior designer for you!

Instead, let me show you 3 colourful options. 

Tonal 

There are two ways to go with a tonal or monochromatic palette – all in with minimal contrast for a really dramatic look, or soft variations of the strongest colour with a contrasting colour for an accent. This colour palette uses the latter. Note that the accent colour I’ve used, a strong olive green, is not contrasting but analogous (next to teal on the colour wheel). It will still stand out dramatically in an otherwise tonal scheme because it’s really saturated and acidic. Whilst a burnt orange would also look good, this is more unexpected and creates a bit of tension in the scheme. 

Contrasting brights 

This is a classic mid-century colour palette, and it goes well with mid-century style prints such as Orla Keily and Scion fabrics. Whilst the colours in this palette are often very popular with colour-lovers, I find people can be nervous about using strong colours together. My advice is to just go for it – they each look better with a bright companion than any of them do when paired with more neutral colours! 

Contrasting muted 

This is probably my favourite way to use teal as it’s so versatile. It can be used to create pretty French mood, Wes Anderson vibes or a sophisticated palette that works in homes of any age. It’s another great one for mixing patterns using wallpaper, fabrics, patterned tiles and paint effects. I’ve included a wine-dark burgundy in this palette, which is needed to stop everything looking to tonally similar (this means not having the same level of lightness or darkness for every colour you use). 

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